Charlie Klein
As a resident of Washington, DC for the past year, I hopped on the Capitals bandwagon. Truth be told, they were the first professional hockey team I ever rooted for when I moved to Annapolis in 1997. And the Capitals were good then. They had Peter Bondra, an electric scorer, Adam Oates, a plucky scoring captain, a rushing defenseman, Sergei Gonchar, and Joe Juneau. Not to mention Olaf Kolzig, who became a cult figure in Washington for his fantastic saves. And in spite of having set up a strong roster which made numerous playoff appearances, the Caps could never win a Stanley Cup.
Let's fastforward to today. Capitals General Manager George McPhee has established a similar group of players. Alexander Ovechkin is in the Peter Bondra mold (except much more talented), Niklas Backstrom fits the Adam Oates type (except again, more talented) Mike Green is the new Gonchar, Alex Semin is the new Juneau, and Semyon Varlamov is the new Kolzig. And again, the Stanley Cup seems to just elude them.
The Capitals have followed the exact same model to rebuild this team and find themselves in the same position they were in the late '90s: in need of a clutch goaltender and a big defenseman. The series against Montreal proved that the Capitals need a full-time dependable goaltender with playoff experience. Varlamov is too young to be expected to dazzle on a continued basis in the playoffs. Jose Theodore is way too inconsistent and lacks the grace under pressure necessary to succeed in winning time.
Looking at the free agent goaltenders there do not appear to be many great options available to McPhee. Theodore is a unrestricted free agent and he ought not return to the Verizon Center if there is any shred of intelligence in the Capitals organization. Yes, he won a lot of games during the season, when the free-scoring Capitals led the league in goals per game, but when it mattered most in Game 2 he allowed two goals on two shots.
The Capitals first round opponent, the Montreal Canadiens, have two decent options in net that are both free agents in one form or another this offseason. Carey Price is an unrestericted free agent and Jaroslav Halak (who has been garnering some Conn Smythe talk with his performances) is a restricted free agent. The biggest mistake the Canadiens have made in the past decade has been not pairing Price with a veteran goaltender to show him the ropes and help him mature. Price still plays like a rookie and is prone to fits of immaturity (the slash on Backstrom at the end of Game 4) but if paired with the right backup he could flourish. The Capitals should make a strong push for Halak, but ultimately I think that the Canadiens will do their best to match any offer.
The two free agent goaltenders worthy of a starting spot in the NHL are Evgeni Nabokov and Dan Ellis. Nabokov minds the net of the number one seed in the Western Conference and, like Theodore, benefited from a strong offense. He is, unlike Theodore, capable of more consistently strong play. The main question with Nabokov is whether or not he has the necessary bottle to succeed in the NHL Playoffs. If the Sharks get past the Red Wings and into the Conference Finals, he may have done enough to cement himself as one of the top free agents this offseason. The Sharks are quite high on their young backup Thomas Greiss, 24, and might opt to use the six million currently invested in Nabokov in another area.
Nabokov is a good fit for the Capitals. There are quite a few Russian players already on the roster (Ovechkin, Semin etc.) and he could mentor the next possibly great Russian goaltender (Semyon Varlamov). Whats more, he is already in his prime and has the necessary playoff experience for the Capitals to go far in the Playoffs.
Dan Ellis should be the Caps plan b if they lose out on Nabokov. Currently the Nashville Predators backup, Ellis has been a spectator for much of the season as Pekka Rinne shined in net for the Preds. And after the Predators signed Rinne to a two year, $6.8 million extension, I fully expect Ellis to resign somewhere else. In the 2007/2008 season, Ellis had a GAA of 2.34 in 44 games played. He has never had the opportunity to be the number one guy, as the Predators went with a two-goalie system for most of the past few seasons. He has the necessary talent to be a number one goaltender, he just needs his opportunity.
The market for NHL defensemen this offseason is much better than the one for goaltenders. Marquee names like Niklas Lidstrom, Scott Niedermayer, Sergei Gonchar and Anton Volchenkov are all out of deals at the end of this season. I fully expect Lidstrom to re-sign with the Red Wings, the idea of him playing in any other uniform just does not seem right. And Niedermayer will probably stay in Anaheim unless some team blows him out of the water. I do not think that Niedermayer is a great fit for the Capitals at what I would expect him to cost. They already have enough rushing defensemen (particularly Mike Green and John Carlson) that Niedermayer's presence would perhaps become too much of a good thing. If he came in and was just a cheap mentor for the young defensemen currently with the Capitals it would be one thing, but if he costs anywhere near what he is making this year ($6 million) it will not happen.
The idea of Sergei Gonchar possibly returning to Washington almost sounds comical. He is constantly roasted by the Verizon Center crowd who still have not forgiven him for leaving the Capitals. What's more, he is not the big physical presence needed on the blue line. I expect the Capitals to make a strong push for the Ottawa Senators D-man Anton Volchenkov. Looking at Volchenkov's stats will not send you into fits of ecstasy, but his defensive play and work ethic ought to make him pretty popular amongst teams looking to strengthen their defensive corps. Volchenkov is gritty, blocks shots, and kills penalties. And that is exactly the kind of defensman the Capitals need. Volchenkov would be the peanut butter to Mike Green's jelly.
The Capitals could also add in conjunction with Volchenkov a player like Daniel Hamhuis of Nashville, Henrik Tallinder of the Buffalo Sabres or Jordan Leopold of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Either way, defense is an absolute necessity for them this offseason.
George McPhee & Co. need to get down to business this offseason. Moreover, as much as dazzling offense may fill the seats and help raise ticket prices at Verizon, it will not be enough to etch Alexander Ovechkin's name onto the Stanley Cup. This is a young team so the ticking time bomb of old age is not exactly about to explode, but the Capitals window of opportunity gets narrower and narrower every year they neglect their need to add more defense to the roster. Until they do, it will be more first and second round exits.
No comments:
Post a Comment